The magic pillow

  We have discovered something that will change our lives as we know it.  The magic pillow.  At first, you may think it's just an ordinary pillow from the guest room, but no!  This pillow miraculously causes my son to take 3 hour naps and helps him sleep a full hour extra in the mornings!

I don't know why it didn't occur to me to put a pillow in Alex's crib sooner, I mean, the poor kid looks like he's in jail when he's in his crib it's so sparse, not so much as a teddy bear even.  Just him and his favorite blankie.

So, the other day I thought I'd cozy it up in there a bit for his nap.  I put down a cozy flannel blankie, then the guest room |magic| pillow, covered with a small fleece blankie, then put him down with his favorite rocket ship blankie.  Kid was out for four hours!  FOUR HOURS!  I thought it was a fluke, but after putting him to bed for the night with the same setup, he slept in until 8 the next morning.  He then took a three hour nap the next day and slept in until 8 the next morning again.  Today another long nap. 

I love you magic pillow!

Having fun on a rainy day

Today was a good day.

Alex slept in his own bed last night which gave John and I the whole bed to ourselves.  Unfortunately we were both exhausted, so we ended up going to sleep.  Don't you hate it when that happens?  Anyhow, Alex slept in late unexpectedly this morning, giving us the opportunity to make up for last night. 

Alex continued to sleep soundly in his room until almost 8:00, so John and I also got to enjoy our morning coffee together without having a crazy monkey trying to grab our mugs, which was also delightful.  Alex woke up just in time to send Daddy off to work. 

Looking like he was feeling much better, I decided that we could go to the gym today.  Alex was thrilled to go play with his day-care friends and didn't even bother to turn around to wave bye-bye to me before I went to work out.  After the gym Alex indulged me by eating several pieces of chicken, a graham cracker, one vanilla creme shredded mini-wheat and 4 oz of an organic strawberry yogurt smoothie.  We watched his favorite DVD (30 minute reading DVD), read a couple of books and he went down for a two hour nap.  John came home while Alex was napping so we got to eat lunch together and watch Jeopardy.

Later in the afternoon Alex and I cleaned the inside of my car which was long over due.  You could barely see the backseat under the layer of smooshed graham crackers and mini Nutter Butters.  Alex gathered up all of the trash in the front seat and helpfully put it in a plastic bag.  Then, not so helpfully took it all out of the plastic bag again and flung it all over the garage. 

With the car clean (well, cleaner anyway) we headed off to the Aquarium.  I wasn't sure Alex would enjoy it all that much. I figured he was still too young to appreciate the exhibits, but he had a fantastic time!  He insisted I pick him up to look at all the aquariums and he excitedly pointed at all the different fish.  They had a giant octopus there that fascinated Alex until it began to move, stretching it's huge tentacles down the tank (the tank was floor to ceiling and Alex was standing right up next to it with his nose pressed against the glass).  The octopus slowly made it's way downward and at some point, Alex decided that the octopus was no longer friendly and ran to hide behind my legs.  After picking him up and putting my own hand on the glass where the octopus's body was, Alex realized it wasn't trying to attack him and calmed down.

For me, the highlight was the jellyfish.  I could have watched them all afternoon if Alex hadn't been so anxious to move on to the next exhibit.

The highlight for Alex was most certainly the touch pool.  Filled with fish and stingrays, people were encouraged to stick their hands in to pet the wildlife.  Alex had a ball splashing the water and occasionally getting to feel the slippery wing of the stingrays.  Any time a stingray would swim close to him he'd laugh and try to dive in.  Even though I had a good hold on him, all the splashing left him soaked from the waist up.

   

The only thing that could get his attention away from the touch pool was the shark tank.  The sharks were pretty small when compared to what we see on the the Discovery channel, but when they started feeding them, it was a frenzy, sharks whizzing around gobbling up fish.  Alex was standing up on a ledge with his whole body pressed against the glass, sharks gliding by just inches from his nose.

On our way out to the car, Alex discovered the fun of puddle jumping.  He ran through every puddle from the exit of the aquarium to our car.  A woman in the parking lot commented that he must be part duck, and that he was so cute splashing through the puddles, he'd made her day.  Since he was already soaked, when we got home I let him splash around in some great puddles forming in our back patio.

Throughly soaked, I changed him into dry clothes and gave him a piece of construction paper and crayons and let him color for a while while I watched the newest "Digging for the truth" episode about Rameses On Demand. 

Alex played on his own while I had phone converstations with my mom, my step-dad and my grandmother.  John came home early, dinner was especially yummy (herb marinated chicken, mashed potatoes and sweet corn) and everyone in our house, even the cat, seems to be in a great mood.

I love days like this.

Oh come on!

Help us!, originally uploaded by Jmelee.

Isn't it supposed to be Spring??

Still sick, wondering if it will ever end...

Since Alex has been sick since Thursday, we basically haven't gone anywhere or done anything since Thursday.  My cold is just about gone, and you'd never even know John had ever been sick (he claims it's all the vitamin C in the juice he drinks all day long), but Alex is still suffering with a boogery nose and a gross cough.  From his energy level you'd never guess he was sick at all.  Still running around the house like a maniac.

I am anxious to get back to the gym myself.  Alex is clearly still too sick to go to the daycare, though, as John keeps pointing out, that doesn't stop some people from bringing their boogery, coughing children in to infect all the other kids.  It's tempting though, I mean he's almost better, and I am desperately needing some time to myself, even if it is on an elliptical machine.  When Alex is sick, he gets incredibly clingy.  I suppose most kids do when they don't feel good.  But with Alex it's a "clingy while still being wild" kind of a thing, and he's really driving me nuts.  He's also been sleeping with us, which means neither John nor I have gotten a good night's sleep in easily five nights.  Belive it or not, he's just as wild in his sleep as he is awake.

The object of my affection

After much research and an obscene amount of fondling different dSLR camera models, I finally decided that the camera that best fit my needs and our budget was a Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi.  I made my case to John, as I have almost weekly for the last year, about why I simply NEED a dSLR (this week's argument included such things as our upcoming trips to Boston and San Diego, pretty spring flowers and of course Alex) and surprisingly, his response this time was "Why don't you take a ride to the camera shop and get one?" So I did.

Even after exhaustive comparison shopping, when all was said and done, I still ended up spending more than I wanted.  I should have just bought it on line.  There's no one pressuring me into buying stuff I don't really need.  I did OK though, along with the camera body and basic 18-55 lens, I bought a 2GB memory card and a lens filter.  I survived the hard core sales pitch on the dangers of not buying the service plan (including but not limited to; running over my camera with the car, having my dog chew on it - I don't have a dog, having it snatched by wild animals and buried in the woods only to find it days later after worms and insects have infiltrated the camera body and lens), but they got me on the frequent shopper membership.  I did walk away with free photography classes that I'm starting next week which I'm very excited about.

Even though this purchase was well researched and in no way could be considered an impulse buy, I still suffered a bit of buyer's remorse.  I called John from the parking lot of Inkley's in a panic, absolutely certain that I'd sent our family into financial ruin with my purchase.  John assured me that we wouldn't go broke or loose the house because I'd bought a camera and to think of it as my 2006 year end bonus (we like to joke about my being employed by John now that I'm home full time.  Complete with monthly reviews, quality checks and year end bonuses).  All the anxiety went away once I took my first few pictures with the new camera.

 

I fell instantly, madly, wildly in love with my new camera.  So much so I would have slept with it resting next to me on a velvet pillow last night if it weren't for Mr. BoogerBeak still feeling sick and needing to be cuddled by Mommy all night. 

Now I can stop training Alex to smear boogers all over Grandma Jen's Nikon D80 so that I can innocently offer to wipe them off, only to steal away it.  Jen, your camera is now safe.

Booger Beak OF DOOM

Teething = boogers
Seasonal allergies = boogers
Woke up with a cold this morning = boogers

Alex has been doped up on infant decongestant today and is understandably cranky.  Poor kid.

Papa Joe and Alex

'07 Papa Joe & Alex 627, originally uploaded by mrsjwd9.

Papa Joe and Grandma Jen came by to visit last night and Jen took a bunch of great pictures of Alex and Joe. I love this one.

Possessed

Potty training has been stalled due to certain toddlers being in an incredibly foul mood this week.  Friday's potty introduction went surprisingly well with the exception of his penchant for peeing everywhere but the potty.  I expected him to outright refuse to sit his bare buns on the potty at all, dismantle the potty or wear it as a hat.  Instead, he dutifully sat on it for 10-15 seconds at a time (if you know Alex, you know that getting him to sit still for 5 seconds is quite a feat) several times throughout the afternoon, and as I mentioned before, even allowed a turd to occupy the potty bowl for a time. 

I gave him the weekend off from potty training, I don't want to overwhelm him as this is a completely new concept for him.  I fully intended to start again yesterday, but apparently my son's body has been possessed by a demon who hates waking up, eating, getting dressed, being carried, having his hand held, drinking juice and basically any other activity that doesn't involve being outside digging in and eating dirt.  I took him to the park yesterday, hoping it would put him in a better mood, but every time I touched him (to help him up to the slide, or help him up stairs, or take away a toy he stole from another kid...), his legs would turn into wet noodles and he'd fall to the ground screaming like a banshee.  It got so bad, after 20 minutes I took him home (kicking and screaming the entire way).  I put him down for a nap and later that afternoon took him to the back yard to play, but after an hour of playing in the dirt, I had to go in to start dinner, I took him inside and he threw another fit.  Aside from just ignoring these tantrums, I'm not sure what I can do about it.  Needless to say, I didn't even think about doing any potty-time with him yesterday, he probably would have bitten my arm off or something.

Today seems to be going better, he behaved himself at the gym day care, only threw a minor tantrum at the grocery store, and went down for his nap without a peep.  I put him down two hours earlier than I usually do, hoping that maybe the attitude is just being over-tired.  We'll see.

Guess who pooped on the potty today?

ALEX!!! 

Well, ok, it's not like he came up to me, said "Mother, I feel like I may need to evacuate my bowls soon, could you please direct me to the loo".  Basically, he was squatting and grunting by the refrigerator, I picked him up, pulled down his training pants and by the time I got him on the potty, the poo fell in.  But, I'm counting it as a success because poo was in the potty, and I'm thinking we've got to celebrate when we can because this is likely going to be a very long, very messy road. 

He has however, peed everywhere but the potty.  He's peed beside the potty, on top of the potty, in the corner of our family room and into his training pants.  Not a single drop of it got into the bowl.  But hey, it's only the first day.

Things are looking good

This week has been exceptional.  Never underestimate the power of a predictable schedule, regular exercise and good coffee.  John and I have both begun to exercise in the mornings.  John goes for a three mile walk outside while I opt to work out at the gym.  I drop Alex off at the gym's day care for the hour and he is able to run and frolic (inside and out) with other kids.  Alex absolutely loves the day care, so I don't have to feel guilty for taking an hour for myself to work out. All three of us are moving around more and getting fresh air.  I think it's making all the difference in our moods. 

"Operation Beefcake" is now in full swing.  My attempt at bulking my son up a bit because he's really starting to have the physique of a lollipop.  He's drinking two Carnation breakfast shakes per day (Oh, Breakfast Shakes, how we've missed thee), he's also sitting down for three balanced meals a day and I'm offering at least three healthy snacks a day.  He doesn't always eat at the meals, or take the snacks, but he's offered food regularly, and he's definitely eating more.  I've also stopped making his eating habits an issue.  It used to be I'd get frustrated and upset if he was on a hunger strike.  Now, if he doesn't eat, I let him get down and play and wait for snack time and try again.  Hopefully he'll eat when he's hungry.  In any event, he's eating better than his Panamanian diet of papas fritas and Likigurt.

Home for almost a week now, we're unpacked, laundry is done and we're all settling into a comfortable routine.  John couldn't be happier.  He's practically skipping.  For my part, it's great to feel useful again.  As nice as it was to have housekeeping, laundry and room service, it grew old after a while.  I mean, I'm a housewife!  That's what I do.  It's my job.  For two weeks, laying around, letting the hotel staff take care of us felt like vacation.  Four and a half weeks and I was just a lazy couch potato.

Home again, home again jiggity jag

Up at 5:00 AM to head to Tocumen Airport

Obligatory security check and carry on baggage search - twice

3.5 hour flight from Panama City to Atlanta Georgia

• Alex sleeps for 45 minutes at the beginning of the flight, then bounces around on our laps for the duration of the flight



• Trying to eat breakfast on a flight with a toddler in your lap is impossible.



• Airplane bathroom has no baby changing shelf.  I am very close to praising Jesus that Alex did not poop during our entire flight

1.5 hours to go through border control and customs in Atlanta

6 hour layover in ATL (we've clocked 10 hours at ATL's T concourse between going and returning from Panama)

3.5 hour flight from Atlanta to Salt Lake City

• Alex slept THE ENTIRE FLIGHT!!! 



• After waiting for 30 minutes at the baggage claim, I happen to come across all of our suitcases sitting in a corner at the back of the claim area when walking to the bathroom.  Thank goodness for my bladder or we'd never have found them.

Little Jen and Baby Lily Mei were waiting at our house for us when we came home.  It was awesome to meet our brand new niece.

Alex was thrilled to see all of his old toys and stayed up well past midnight playing.

We're glad to be home.

The adventure is over

I am simultaneously excited and bummed about leaving on Saturday.  Excited because, DAMN!  It's gonna be awesome to be in our nice big house where we can all be in separate rooms for a change.  This room is so small and we're all in each other's faces all the time. It's gonna be great to have a kitchen and I can make a meal or have a snack in my jammies (if I want food here, I have to get dressed and go out to eat, and sometimes, I just feel like having microwave popcorn).  It's going to be great to understand what people are saying, to be able to read signs and package labels and even watch TV in English again.  I'll have more freedom, I can go out at night or to the grocery store by myself.  I'll have a car so I don't have to walk or take a taxi everywhere I go.  I won't accidentally order a whole fish at restaurants.

But, on the other hand, the adventure is over.  We're going home.  To Utah.  Back to our regular old lives.  What do I have to look forward to now?  Re-starting the diet?  Cleaning the house?  Potty training?  This has been an amazing experience for me. But I need to be careful that I don't get the post-adventure blues.  I can easily see myself going home and sulking.  Thumbing sadly through pictures of our trip, counting the days until we can go somewhere exciting again. 

I think I need to make more of an effort to find adventure and excitement in my every day life.  I find myself getting sucked into John's boring old routine so often, that I forget that I can CHOOSE to get out and do something fun instead.  Alex and I don't have to hang around the house all day, we can go to the zoo, we can pack a lunch and go on a picnic, we can go to the dinosaur museum... I can even leave Alex home with John sometimes and attend the meetings / book clubs / Mom's night out activities with the Mom's club I joined recently.  The rec center nearby my house has a day care that I can drop Alex off at and work out in their fitness center or take an exercise class like spinning or lifting.  I just need to DO it.  And you know what?  Starting next week, I will.

Toddler rehab

The last couple of days I've wanted to write a post about how Alex can be an evil demon child who spits fire and how I've had to stop myself from putting him out in the hallway for housekeeping to take away with the room service dishes.  But before I can sit down at the computer to tell the Internet about his evil ways, he looks up at me and smiles and bats those gorgeous eyelashes at me and I'm all gooey and in love with him again.  Today I said to John:

"Ya know, he's so cute, anyone who doesn't know him, just looking at him, they'd never know he was... you know..."
"Satan incarnate?"
"Yea, that."

He's always been a feisty one, that boy.  And it doesn't help that since we've been on this trip, I've really let the rules slide.  I fear that I've really let him get out of control. It can't help that he's watching WAY too much television and not getting enough exercise.  Not to mention he's eating nothing but yogurt and french fries.  Ugh, I feel like the worst mother in the world! 

It's no wonder he's acting out.  He's a child who needs routine, a schedule.  He's just like his father that way.  When he's on a good schedule, he eats better, sleeps better, doesn't punch me in the eye or pull hair out of my scalp in clumps.  It's such a simple solution that has such dramatic results, you'd think I'd be better about keeping it up.

I'll do my best the next three days to get him to eat better and let him run around more.  I think just those two things will help tremendously.  But when we get home, I'm getting serious.  I'm cutting him off of french fries and television completely (well, I'll probably still let him watch his reading DVD's) and I am going to make a point to provide him opportunities to run and play every day.  I'm anxious to rehabilitate this crazed mini-Hulk back into that cherubic (albeit feisty) little boy I once had.

Last weekend's awesome trip to the Caribbean was followed by a boring week of my nursing an evil sunburn on my shoulders.  It was so bad it made wearing a bra feel like I was being tortured.  So, we opted to stay in most of the week and let the mom-boobs swing free (this worked out great for John as he had plenty of time to work on his Sudoku puzzles, to which he's become addicted).  Earlier in the week the sunburn on my shoulders had blistered up and then turned into dead zombie flesh.  But this morning, it's peeled off and I'm back to my pale, freckly self again.  I had hoped to come home with some nice color, but it turns out only my freckles tan, so I look more like a Dalmatian than ever before.  John even remarked that it looks like I got some new ones.  Thankfully he thinks it's cute. 

Saturday was our fourth wedding anniversary, so I was even more excited to do something fun, but as it turned out John wasn't feeling well (must have eaten something bad), Alex was in a screaming kind of mood and I was just grumpy from having been cooped up for a week.  By afternoon John was feeling better so we did manage to get out to the Amador Causeway for a while.  We rented a "car bike" and rode up and down the Causeway and watched the birds catch fish.  It was fun, but it was hot, so we opted to get ice cream smoothies and go back to the air conditioned hotel for the rest of the night.  After Alex went to bed our anniversary got much better ;)  We do plan to celebrate our anniversary again when we get home by getting a babysitter and going to our favorite fondue restaurant.

I think we're quickly entering that phase of a trip where you find that the novelty of being away from home has long since worn off and the walls of your already cramped hotel room begin to close in on you. Next week will be pretty boring, John will be busy wrapping up his work here and I'll be trying to figure out how to get all this crap back into our suitcases.  Surprisingly, I am looking forward to getting home and getting back to normal life.  Being here has been a fantastic experience, but it feels like it's time to go home.

Visual aid

Tonight, Alex had gone to bed and I'm channel surfing, desperately looking for something to watch.  I pass up American Idol dubbed in Spanish, I pass up CNN and their non-stop coverage of Anna Nicole Smith's funeral arrangements, I pass up what appears to be a French lesbian porn with Spanish subtitles and I come to a show featuring a woman and three men sitting in comfortable looking sofas and chairs.  The woman is holding some sort of plush puppet and appeared to be the host of the show, pointing to parts of the puppet and explaining things in Spanish. I'm curious, even though I don't understand what they are saying.  I'm even more curious about what the hell this puppet is supposed to be.  It's big, about the size of the woman's head.  It's mostly red with lighter pink strips of material that could be lips of some sort around the mouth that appears to open vertically.  There are no discernible eyes, but it appears to have a little round nose just above the sideways mouth... oh... my... God...  It's a giant puppet vagina.

Huh, that's something you don't see every day.

The show turned out to be called: Alessandra Para Hombres (Alessandra for men).  Alessandra is apparently a sexologist or a professional sex educator (do you need a degree for that?) and her show is essentially teaching men how to seduce and satisfy their women.  She is extremely thorough in her teaching, having the men practice different techniques of manually pleasuring the giant puppet vagina.  She had some pretty novel suggestions and I wish I could have understood her better so I could explain them in detail to John later.